Iconic and Memorable Roles: TV Part II

111   6.9   8 

Toshiro Mifune as Lord Yoshi Toranaga


Richard Chamberlain as Blackthorne - Anjin San


John Rhys-Davies as Vasco Rodrigues


Yoko Shimada as Mariko


Great characters in this epic miniseries with veteran actor Toshiro Mifune. Long before Last Samurai, there was this James Clavell story of a European sailor learning the customs of Japan, and the code of Bushido.

Joseph Grey's rating:

76   8   8.1 

Helen Mirren as Detective Chief Inspector Jane Tennison


An excellent show with amazing actress Helen Mirren. On of her best works, this show is worth watching if you love murder mysteries.

Joseph Grey's rating:

155   7.7   8.5 

Patrick McGoohan as Number Six


This great show was the brainchild of genius Patrick McGoohan. Many great writers and an excellent cast helped to make this a memorable limited series.

Joseph Grey's rating:

124   7.4   8.4 

Levar Burton as Kunta Kinte


Ed Asner as Captain Thomas Davies


Louis Gossett Jr. as The Fiddler (pictured left)


John Amos as Toby (Kunta Kinte)


Ben Vereen as Chicken George


So many great performances. Unfortunately, I can't put them all in this list. A very powerful and emotional miniseries.

Joseph Grey's rating:

30   8.6   8.3 

Alec Guinness as George Smiley


Ian Richardson as Bill Haydon


Ian Bannen as Jim Predeaux


Michael Jayston as Peter Guillam


Hywel Bennett as Ricky Tarr


One of the best performances by world class actor Alec Guinness. Great performances all around by the cast.

Joseph Grey's rating:

14   8.8   8.2 

Alec Guinness as George Smiley


Anthony Bate as Oliver Lacon


Eileen Atkins as Madame Ostrakova


Curd Jürgens as The General


Vladek Sheybal as Otto Leipzig


Bernard Hepton as Toby Esterhase


Patrick Stewart as Karla


Another great performance by Alec Guinness. Set at a different pace than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, this story is on a smaller scale, but is more personal than the first.

Joseph Grey's rating:

238   7.8   8.3 

David Suchet as Hercule Poirot


Hugh Fraser as Captain Hastings




A very unique character in Poirot, and a very good portrayal by David Suchet.

Joseph Grey's rating:

1266   8.6   9.6 

Damian Lewis as Major Richard D. Winters


Neal McDonough as Lt. Lynn 'Buck' Compton


Ron Livingston as Captain Lewis Nixon


Matthew Settle as Captain Ronald Spiers


Donnie Wahlberg as Sgt. Cardwood Lipton


James Madio as Sgt. Frank Perconte


Shane Taylor as Cpl. Eugene Roe


Rick Gomez as Sgt. George Luz


An incredible show featuring a large cast and movie quality special effects.

Joseph Grey's rating:

55   8.3   7.7 

Sean Bean as Richard Sharpe


Daragh O'Malley as Patrick Harper


John Tams as Daniel Hagman


Jason Salkey as Harris


Brian Cox as Hogan


The Sharpe's series is one of my favorites of all time. Well made, and well acted, you should give this show a try if you haven't seen it.

Joseph Grey's rating:

2310   7.8   8.5 

Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as Sam and Dean Winchester


The famous pairing of Sam and Dean Winchester. The show does a good job of accentuating the differences of the two brothers, while they struggle to survive against just about every supernatural creature ever conceived of.

Joseph Grey's rating:

138   7.4   8 

Patrick Macnee and Diana Rigg as John Steed and Emma Peel



My favorite pairing of stars on 'The Avengers.' Diana Rigg is a very talented actress, and did much with her role, despite the best bits of dialogue being given to the John Steed character. Another childhood favorite show.



Earlier episodes of the show also featured Honor Blackman opposite Patrick Macnee. That makes two women from the same show to appear in Bond films. Patrick Macnee himself appeared in View to a Kill with Roger Moore.

Joseph Grey's rating:

104   6.6   7.9 

Jack Klugman and Tony Randall as Oscar and Felx


The movie was too successful, they just had to make a tv show out of it. However, Jack Klugman is a talented actor, so it may have been a good show, although I don't know that from experience.

503   6.6   7.2 

Adam West and Burt Ward as Batman and Robin

One of 'The' Dynamic Duos of all time. The Batman character is timeless. That has been proven through the fact that Batman movies and their associated characters are still showing up in movies today.

Joseph Grey's rating:

66   7.1   7.9 

Robert Vaughn and David McCallum as

Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin

Joseph Grey's rating:

293   6.1   6.8 

Tom Wopat and John Schneider as Luke and Bo Duke


Neglecting to mention Luke and Bo Duke in a list of dynamic duos is about as un-American as getting your Tabasco sauce from New York City.

282   6.4   7.3 

Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as
Det. James Crockett and Det. Ricardo Tubbs


These guys were iconic in the eighties, and they spawned a movement of grown men to wear poorly mismatched clothing, thinking it was cool.

Had I been old enough at the the time, I probably would have been one of them.

Joseph Grey's rating:

216   6   7 

Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot as Larry and Balki

Many shows have been made of reluctant roommates. This was one of the better ones, and one of my childhood favorites.

Joseph Grey's rating:

740   5.9   6.6 

William Daniels as K.I.T.T. and David Hasselhoff as Michael Knight

This was a show that came by at the right time. The early eighties were ready for cool talking cars and David Hasselhoff's scoundrel charm.

Joseph Grey's rating:

2083   7.7   8.7 

David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson as
Agent Fox Mulder and Agent Dana Scully


A great show about a duo of FBI agents that search for the truth. Mulder believes everything, and Scully believes nothing. A good contrast of characters.

Joseph Grey's rating:

206   7.3   8.1 

Don Adams and Barbara Feldon as Maxwell Smart and Agent 99

The was a great pair. Don Adams and Barbara Feldon really worked well together, the comedic scenes between them were always enjoyable.

Joseph Grey's rating:

523   6.2   6.4 

Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser as Jamie Buchman and Paul Buchman

Paul Reiser created and co-wrote this show about married life. It was a well written and enjoyable show. Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser had great chemistry, and they were supported by a good ensemble cast.

Joseph Grey's rating:

821   5.8   6.2 

Thomas Gibson and Jenna Elfman as Greg Montgomery and Dharma Finkelstein

Jenna Elfman played a neurotic new age wife, and Thomas Gibson her straight-laced suffering husband.

I haven't seen many episodes of the show. Jenna Elfman did a good job portraying the strange character Dharma.

Joseph Grey's rating:

376   6   6.9 

Pam Dewbar and Robin Williams as Mindy and Mork


I watched some reruns as a kid and started liking Robin Williams by watching this show.

Joseph Grey's rating:

139   5.8   6.7 

Cindy Williams and Penny Marhsall as Shirley and Laverne


Laverne and Shirley are a couple of single girls trying to make it through their workaday lives, helping each other along the way... Wait a minute, isn't that the same plot as 'Two Broke Girls'? This show came out 35+ years ago, but it looks like the premise is still pretty useful.

150   6.5   6.9 

Paul Michael Glaser as Starsky and David Soul as Hutch


I have to admit, I never saw this one. But, they're both detectives, so I'm going to have to assume they kick some criminal asses by the end of each episode.